The basic objective of the proposed research is to increase our knowledge of organizational member responses to the opportunity to participate in decision making. Specifically, the research will examine the role of a personality variable, one's locus of control, in mediating the relationship between the opportunity to participate in job planning and subsequent performance and satisfaction. Research on locus of control suggests that individuals who view their outcomes as under their own control (internals) will perform better when given the opportunity to participate in planning than when a plan is provided for them. On the other hand, individuals who view their outcomes as determined by outside forces (externals) will perform better when given a plan than when they have the opportunity to develop their own plan. Although many studies of participation have been reported, few have examined the role of personality variables. Moreover, much of the research in this area involves methodological weaknesses. The proposed research is designed to overcome some of the limitations of previous research by studying participation in a laboratory setting. Accordingly, a two-stage experiment will examine: (1) the interaction of participation and locus of control as they affect performance, and (2) the interaction of participation, locus of control, and performance level as they affect satisfaction.